


We can do better

by LeDiz



Series: The 48: Miraculous Ladybug [1]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien's too nice, Friendship, Gen, I like to pretend there's middle ground, chloe's a bitch
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-10
Updated: 2016-11-10
Packaged: 2018-08-30 06:50:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,520
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8522833
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LeDiz/pseuds/LeDiz
Summary: Adrien knows Chloe's not a nice person, but she is his friend. And he's willing to be patient while she finds a way out of that.





	

While he tries not to think too much about her negatives, Adrien does remember the first time he realised Chloe wasn’t a very nice person.

He’d always kind of known she has her moments – that she could be mean or absolutely horrible. But they were just that – _moments_. She was always nice… enough… to him. She was his friend.

His only friend.

And no one is perfect. So she could be a little callous at times, so what? His father can be… and the point is that… He sighs when he thinks about it. He doesn’t even know anymore.

They were in her father’s restaurant, having lunch. She was telling him about this girl at school that was being… selfish? He guessed? He wasn’t entirely sure what the problem with her was, but she wasn’t respecting Chloe. As someone who got treated more like an object than a person, Adrien could understand why that annoyed her. So he nodded sympathetically and agreed with her anger, reassuring her every step of the way.

Then Sabrina showed up.

Chloe had spoken about Sabrina before. “Nice girl, horrible fashion sense, thick as a brick, but she works hard and means well, so I kind of take pity on her, you know?” They’d become friends recently, when Chloe loaned her a broach.

“Ugh, Sabrina, I told you I was meeting Adri-kins today!” she said. “If you had to show up, you could have at least _tried_ to look presentable!”

Adrien thought she looked nice. Her makeup was too pale for her, and she was going for some kind of strange nerd-chic tomboy style, but to each their own.

Besides, this was someone new. A friend of Chloe’s could be a friend of his. He smiled and started to introduce himself, but Chloe cut him off.

“Oh, just don’t. Don’t – don’t even try, you’re humiliating me in front of Adri-kins, go away.”

“But Chloe!” Sabrina started. “I thought you wanted –”

“Well, don’t think, it’s not what you’re good at. Go away. Go on, before you ruin our lunch. Go, go,” she said, and grabbed Adrien’s hand, pulling him back around to face her again. He looked between the two girls, confused, and Chloe fluttered her other hand at him. “No, don’t worry about her, Adrien, she’s not worth it just now. What was I saying? Oh, yes, _Marinette_.”

Sabrina left. She came back again just as Adrien was leaving, now wearing a simple black dress (and bright pink mary-janes that clashed with her tan stockings, but she’d clearly tried). This time, Chloe welcomed her with only slight exasperation and told her to go wait in the corner until Adrien had left.

She did.

He tries not to make comparisons to how things are with his father sometimes.

 

* * *

 

The Christmas before ninth grade, Chloe got to attend Gabriel Agreste’s charity ball. Adrien spent most of the evening hosting with his father, and Chloe spent that time clinging to her father’s arm and networking.

Their eyes met over the cafe au lait and Adrien glanced toward a table in the far corner, its long tablecloth perfect for hiding under. She grinned back, and five minutes later she was gathering up her silky skirts and giggling as they snuck away like children.

“Man, I thought tonight was never gonna end!” he whispered. He looked a mess, his hair mussed from the tablecloth and grin shining in the darkness, but she contented herself that he was still handsome in a rough and ready sort of way. “Merry Christmas, Chloe.”

“Merry Christmas, Adrien!” she replied. “What brought this on?”

“I’m making a resolution this year. I’m going to do what _I_ want to do, not what my father tells me.”

She raised an eyebrow, intrigued. That was not the Adrien Agreste she knew. “Oh? And that’s sneaking away from charity balls?”

He laughed, and she tilted her head. Laughing has never really suited him.

“No, I don’t know what it’s gonna be yet. I want to meet people. People our age, you know? I want… I want to make friends,” he said. “It’s gonna sound weird, but… I kind of want to explore your school. You know I go there for fencing practice? Maybe I’ll find some way to get some extra time and check it out. The library looks huge!”

Ideas began to percolate. She grabbed his hands in both of hers. “Adri-kins, I have the _best_ idea.”

He listened, and his eyes went wide. They absolutely shone with excitement. When she told him she was pretty sure she could get her father to make it all happen, he even hugged her.

A month later, she presented him with all the signed paperwork, the waivers that meant he wouldn’t need his father’s signatures, his schedules, and everything. He hugged her again and even kissed her on both cheeks.

“Chloe, you are my favourite person in the entire world, _thank you_!”

She shrugged. She was counting on it.

 

* * *

 

Chloe handed him the keys to his freedom. She got him into school, she made it all possible.

She’s not perfect, but… Adrien holds on to that with both hands.

She’s his friend.

 

* * *

 

Cat Noir is not having a good day.

It started out kind of fun. Getting to investigate Chloe’s room and finding out it’s Sabrina causing her trouble was way too entertaining. He feels kind of lousy for getting a kick out of Sabrina’s evilised form, but hey. He’s allowed to find enjoyment where he can.

But Ladybug was kind of mean to Chloe, which put a whole damper on the day, and now… ugh. Fighting Chloe is something he avoids doing verbally. Physically, even if she’s akumatised, is pretty close to the last thing he wants to do. He’s never been great at battling human-looking akuma, because he honestly doesn’t want to hurt people. But this is _Chloe_.

He knows he’s not putting enough effort into his swings. He’s not moving fast enough. He’s not really even trying, more waiting out Ladybug’s return because she doesn’t know the people in his class and never holds back besides. She won’t have any issues doing what needs to be done.

And this is Chloe, dressed as Ladybug, and it’s all so…

She snatches away his baton and he can’t help flinching as she shoves in close to knock him down. Then she’s on top of him, knees pinning his arms, weight settled on his ribs. He can smell her perfume, sweet and delicate just like he’d once thought she was.

She’s hurting. He’s pretty sure he could have prevented this.

“Good kitty. Now stay down,” she says, and slams her yo-yo against his temple.

 

* * *

 

He goes over to her house once it’s all over, and they sit in silence, watching a TV show about dating in the dark. His head still hurts where the yo-yo hit him, but he knows it’s phantom pain. Bruises never last after the Miraculous Ladybug, so it’s just that he hates what happened.

Chloe hasn’t mentioned it yet. If he was Cat Noir, he would have, but as Adrien he won’t push it.

At least, that’s what he thinks, until the lights come on and one of the guys pulls a very particular face after seeing the girl he’s been making out with all night. Obviously he never would have spoken to her if he’d seen her first up, and he’s thinking fast to find a way out of it. The girl clearly recognises that and you can see her preparing responses.

Adrien’s mouth opens without him thinking about it at all. “You’re not a bad person, Chloe.”

He feels her still. The constant filing of her nails has frozen. She doesn’t respond.

He’s not really thinking much of anything, so he doesn’t really know what he’s going to say before he hears it himself. “If you stopped worrying so much about what other people think of you, I think you’d be a lot happier.”

“I don’t have to take that from you, Adrien Agreste,” she replies coolly, and he knows she has a point but ignores it.

Instead, he takes his hand in hers, turning his head toward her but not looking direct. “I think if you stopped trying to control everything in your life, you’d have a much better one.”

“You are the biggest hypocrite,” she snaps, but doesn’t pull her hand away. From the corner of his eye, he can see her blinking a lot. “I don’t know why I put up with you. You’re not _that_ good looking.”

He is a hypocrite. But he’s learned a lot this year, growing and finding happiness, and he wants her to be happy too. “We don’t have to be lonely, Chloe. But we do have to try a little harder to change.”

Her fingers clench around his hand, and he can feel her shake. But she still scoffs. “Whatever. Shut up, I’m trying to watch this.”

He nods, and lets it go. Her hand still shaking in his tells him she heard him just fine, and that’s good enough for now.

Change comes slow, sometimes.

**Author's Note:**

> The 48 are a collection of unfinished and/or pointless fics saved to my hard drive, now posted to Ao3 for people's interest, or in case they want to adopt them. The Miraculous Ladybug fics don't fall into my normal 48 preference, because I did consider myself part of the fandom early in 2016, and so in theory I should've just posted the pointless fics on ffdn. But honestly, I'm not happy with most of them, so they go here instead.
> 
> I don't hold out a lot of hope for this, but I would like for Chloe and Adrien to be each other's secret keepers once she gets the Miraculous. I would like some development in that relationship, and possibly the chance to see more of Adrien's perspective. I suppose we shall see.


End file.
